After You've Rescued Me
by samuraistar
Summary: RoddyxRita One-Shot. Roddy finishes his soul-bearing confession aboard the Jammy Dodger II. My first FA fic!


AAAAAAAAAAAH! (lands on face in sewer water)

Um…Hi, everybody! The name's samuraistar, and I am a HUGE Flushed Away fan, and a total Roddy/Rita love fan! I thought I'd stick my toes in the sewer water here with a one-shot; I especially hope **Roddyheart** will look at it (you seem to be the dominant writer in this section). I hope I've captured them well, and I humbly lay my work at your feet for your (hopeful) enjoyment! Please leave a review and please enjoy!

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_"They say teasing's a sign of love."_—Haru Sohma, _Fruits Basket_

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**Title: After You've Rescued Me**

**Full Summary****:** Roddy finishes his soul-baring confession to Rita aboard the Jammy Dodger II.

"See that one there?" Rita pointed out, "That's the Big Cheese Dipper. Actually, it's the Big Dipper, but we call it the Big Cheese Dipper in my family."

"I like that," Roddy smiled up at the famous constellation. He and Rita were lying head-to-head on their resting places aboard the new Jammy Dodger (which were the same as on the first one), watching the stars through the open space with the English Ivy growing over the brick walls.

"And that one," she pointed at a different one, "is Nicodemus, former leader of the Rats of NIMH."

"Really?" he asked, his interest piqued, "Where? I don't see him."

"Look." She scooted closer and pointed with her arm next to his face. "Those two bright ones are his eyes, that straight line is his staff, and those wavy lines are his mustache."

"Oh, there he is," said Roddy, "That's amazing! Okay, here's one." Now _he_ pointed. "See that sort of circle-shaped ring there?"

"Yeah," she said.

"There's a face just underneath. See it?"

Rita stared squinty-eyed at it for a while, then her face lit up.

"Blimey, it's Elvis!" she laughed, "I don't believe it!"

"Thank you very much," he imitated The King. Rita laughed again.

"My father and I used to do this all the time when I was a kid," she said and pillowed her head with one hand. She purposely left out that her _parents_ used to do this _before_ she and the kids were born.

"When Tabitha first brought me home," said Roddy, "I had trouble sleeping the first month or so, so she'd bring me out of the cage and show me the stars. It's been a long time since I've done this with anyone." He thought of all those nights he'd watched the night skies from his cage, when Tabitha felt he was more settled and stopped letting him out, the nights he spent alone.

Which reminded him…

"Rita," he sighed and sat up, "I owe you an apology." Rita looked curious and sat up, too.

"For what?" she asked. Roddy leaned his elbows on his knees.

"For not trusting you with the truth," he said in a sad, quiet voice, "And for pushing you away." Rita thought for a second.

"Oh," she realized, "The family thing. Roddy, really it's okay—"

"I-I know," he said with his hands up, "But please, let me apologize anyway. I feel I have to do this before it drives me mad."

"Well, okay," she smiled and placed her feet on the floor, "If it'll keep you sane."

"Right." He shifted to face her directly, so their knees almost touched. Roddy laid his hand over hers.

"Rita, I'm sorry," he said truthfully, "You were right about me, you were right about everything, as I said before. I thought if you knew I lived alone, with no family or friends or _anyone_, you'd think I was a pathetic loser, like Sid said. I should have remembered that if I could trust you with my life as I have, then I could trust you with the truth." Rita covered his hand with her other one.

"What _is_ the truth, Roddy?" she asked gently. Roddy looked at her for a moment, seeing in her lovely emerald eyes—bright but toned down for the seriousness of the moment—that it was all right to tell her, that she'd accept him no matter what. He placed his other hand on top of hers, completing the stack.

"The truth is," he said before he lost his nerve, "I was lonely. So lonely I was reduced to talking to dolls like some madman. I loved my home and I loved my life, but at the end of every day all there was, was me. I asked you to take me back because it was all I knew, all I had. I thought I belonged there, even after you left…but looking back on that, I think I was just being stubborn, trying to lick the wounds on my pride."

"But you came back," she pointed out.

"I came back because of The Toad," he said. He held her hands and faced her squarely. "I stayed because of you." Her look of surprise made him smile; she was so unassuming, so humble! No wonder everyone liked her.

"Well," she recovered, "I didn't think you were staying for me mum!" They chuckled.

"Don't get me wrong, Rita," Roddy smiled, "I adore your mother and have the highest respect for your father. They're exactly what I wish mine were like…" He reached up and touched her face.

"…but it wasn't until I had you that I realized I had nothing," he finished, "And when I let you walk away like that, I hated myself so much. I was a fool, a proud, idiotic fool…" He dropped his hand and bowed his head shamefully. "…and I'm sorry." He gently squeezed her hands.

"I know now," he said to her face, "that I only have everything…when I have you.

"I love you, Rita," he said softly, "You _are_ everything to me."

For a little bit Rita just stared at him with this soft, emotional look in her eyes, sparkling with starlight. Then she smiled.

"I suppose I wasn't foolish after all," she said quietly.

"About what?"

"About you," she said, "I chided myself when I left your place. I was angry at myself, too, for something that's never happened to me before." She was getting misty-eyed, so she took a deep breath and rubbed an eye.

"I fell in love with a passenger," she confessed, "and I hated myself for it. I told myself, 'You knew this was going to end, you knew he belonged here, this whole thing was business and you let it get personal,' things like that. I broke the rule everyone breaks in the movies: Don't get emotionally involved." She shrugged. "But I did. I loved you when we got to your house, I loved you when I left, I even loved you when The Toad hung me by the floodgates. I loved you…"

With no warning, she leaned forward and threw her arms around his neck; this time he didn't hesitate. He hugged her back. Then, on a second thought, he stood up with her to hold her properly. They didn't pull apart once.

"Was it Ice Cold Rita?" he asked with a smile. She chuckled and pulled back a bit.

"Partly," she admitted, "I think I actually started liking you after you hired me, because I teased you about the piranha. I just didn't realize it until I saw you playing Tom Jones for my grandmum. Watching you sing on a duck…it's a little embarrassing, but…as long as we're having confessionals…that's when I first fell in love with you."

"Don't worry," he whispered playfully, "I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks," she giggled, "but what cinched it for me was when I was dangling in front of the floodgates, and I was terrified of my family being drowned. I had a selfish moment and missed you. Then I heard your voice." She was trying to keep her composure now. "You left your beautiful home behind. You left _everything_ behind to save us—the jewels, the car, the perfection…" Her voice shook as she looked at him. "And you came for me, _again._ You always kept coming after me, even when I tried to push you away, even when a world that wasn't yours was in danger. You came back for me." She leaned her forehead on his shoulder and he pressed his hands to her back.

"You always came back for me," she said near tears, "and I love you for it."

Roddy's heart thumped joyfully inside him; he gently pulled her back and lifted her chin with his knuckles.

"Say again?" he asked with that charming smile of his. She smiled back.

"I love you, Roddy St. James," she said, touching his face.

"And I you, Rita Malone," he replied softly, "I will always come back for you, no matter what." He took her face in his hands and kissed her sweet and long.

They could have stayed that way forever had a quartet of slugs not floated by. One was singing and the other three backed him up with a doo-wop style background.

_In the still of the night,  
I held you, held you tight_

Roddy rolled his eyes with a groan. Rita chuckled again.

"Why am I not surprised?" he sighed, "Oh, well." He held her hand up. "Shall we dance?"

"Let's," she agreed. He twirled her onto the deck and they slow-danced together under the sewer-framed stars.

_In the still of the night…_

THE END!

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**Author's Review****:**  
So that's my first ever Flushed Away fic! Please leave a comment! Oh, and the reason I didn't put all the words in (I DON'T OWN THAT SONG, BY THE WAY) was because as I read it, it fit in the timing while I listened to the song.

And this is just the beginning! As we speak, I'm working on a chapter story with lots of Roddy/Rita love, and lots of life-saving…cool stuff! Bleh, I wore out my creative energy on the love! Did you like it? Please review!


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